New Gaming Rig

I have been on the forum for awhile now and I am planning on building a new computer for myself in the spring. I want to get a head start on my PC parts list though so I can get the parts when I sell my current computer. My brother is buying it from me in the spring.

Anyways, I have a budget around $1000. There is some wiggle room. I want good parts.

I am thinking about using the Bitfenix Pandora. There have been some positive and negative reviews thrown around about the case. Do you think it is worth the negatives? Is there a better aestetically pleasing case? I want something that is thin and small. http://www.amazon.com/BitFenix-without-Supply-BFC-PAN-300-KSWL1-RP-Silver/dp/B00OULNV2Y

I would love to hear some build ideas! I need an AC WiFi card and an SSD is a must. I can't stress this enough. It would be good to have 16 GB of RAM. I use some modded shaders on some games and I need the extra ram. I play several games on Steam that have some graphics intensive requirements and I am now playing Battlefront on Ultra settings with my current system, which has been a total dream :)

My current system that I am selling has the following specs:
Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Kingston Fury Red Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Asus PCE-AC68 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter
BOSE® 354495-1100 Companion 2 Multimedia Speaker System Series 3

It would be great to get a system that meets or exceeds the performance of my current system. It's a tall order, but I'm sure it is possible. I would love to get the case to be as small as possible.

Thanks for the help,
Patrick

Spend money on hardware before a case

Really though there's no reason to replace that rig, if that wasn't part of your thousand dollar budget just get a Fury and either a 4k free-sync display or a 1440p 144hz free-sync display

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/b9hsD3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/b9hsD3/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $952.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-12 20:09 EST-0500

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I don't think you understand what I am looking for. I am selling my computer to my brother because he needs a workhorse/gaming computer for his editing and gaming needs. I like my brother a lot and I want to cut him a deal.

I would like to build another good looking computer. For me, hardware is important, but the case makes the wow factor. I have had so many people stare at my computer in wonder because of my NZXT H440 case. They were impressed with its performance, but they were more impressed with its looks. I like things to work well and look good.

This is what I would like to do:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler | NZXT Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $73.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI A88XM GAMING Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard | $104.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $75.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $44.98 @ OutletPC
Video Card | MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card | $319.98 @ SuperBiiz
Case | BitFenix Pandora MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $133.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $92.88 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $856.70
| Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
| Total | $846.70
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-12 21:24 EST-0500 |

With these components, what CPU should I be looking at? I am willing to go above $1000 total, just not too far above that.

Thanks!

Function before Form Always. You could always just buy the nicer case later.

I wouldn't go FM2+ for a thousand dollar budget, the liquid cooler is unnecessary for the most part

Either way you'd want to look more at the Xeon 1231v3 which is basically an i7 for cheaper with no iGPU, kinda like in the build I listed, you'd end up with more performance and a large SSD

and the SSDnow series from kingston has bait and switch hardware that made newer models slower than review models

That's way too much money to be spending on a FM2+ build...

You can get something that performs great, while still looking great for around $1,000.

Here's my PC as an example that I've posted numerous times here.

($1,087.00 config with an i7 4790k, Radeon R9 390x, 16GB RAM, 850w SeaSonic X-850 80+ gold, 2x Crucial MX100's, etc...)

(Here's what it looks like with my GTX 970, instead of the R9 390x)

I am currently using my GTX 970, hence the green cables/fans.

1 Like

You can't just switch the shroud on the GPUs?

What are you talking about? The 390x is huge compared to the 970. I might be able to ghetto rig it, but no. lol

Trowing a 390 or GTX970 in a rig with a Athlon 860K cpu does not make that much sense.
Because those gpu´s will get bottlenecked by the cpu in allot of cpu demending games, especialy at 1080p.
Also the 860K will be no where near the performance of your current 4690K.

also for $1000,- you could easaly build something with a skylake i5.

1 Like

Should still really just paint that 390x green man, although I guess if your display is 1080p it's not going to matter much

I use three monitors in surround. But this topic is not about me.

This would be a very nice little gaming powerhouse.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/v4yHP6

Why does everyone go mini itx? It seems so dumb to me lol

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It's just a sugestion because of that.

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ATX is pretty small considering :P
I guess I always was attracted by multi gpu....

Sorry for getting off topic!

@Streetguru @Jason_Thongphetmanic @MisteryAngel @FaunCB

I took all of your suggestions to thought. How about this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU | Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $263.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU Cooler | NZXT Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $73.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M Killer Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $124.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $75.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $104.84 @ OutletPC
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.98 @ OutletPC
Video Card | MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card | $319.98 @ SuperBiiz
Case | BitFenix Pandora MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $133.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $92.88 @ Amazon
Wireless Network Adapter | Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter | $29.89 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1280.42
| Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
| Total | $1270.42
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-12 23:36 EST-0500 |

Are there ways I can cut costs and still keep the build looking good? I don't mind putting a little more money into the system.

Patrick

Reject asthetics they only get in the way of performance per dollar

Anyways, the Xeon is a locked CPU, so I'd suggest you get a lower end motherboard and include a larger SSD in the build.

looks good to me.
The only thing you need to be aware of is that those Xeon´s are not overclockable,
but on the otherhand they are great value for money, since they are basicly a locked i7 without an igpu,
in the case of the 1231-V3 and 1241-V3.

PSU is a bit overkill, because a decent 650W would also be totaly fine for a setup like that.
But ofc it never hurts.

I don't think you are understanding my goals... I want something that looks sweet, runs well, and it in my budget. I'm not looking for the next PC Mark king.

I am only using the SSD for the OS. I will use the rest of the drive space for documents, but the 1 TB drive will be for my games and large movie files.

Thats ok with me :) I haven't gotten to deep into overclocking and it was kind of a hassle, so I would prefer to not do it again.

What do you think the Xeon E3-1241 equates to on the i7 scale? Just curious :)

Sure, but if you got a $30 case you could get a 480gb SSD to throw all your games and the like onto.

the Xeon is the exact equivalent of an i7 running at the same frequency. Same architecture